Why it gots to be a black thing, yo?

[Perd Hapley]

America is so racist, we don't even like black puppies.

In my trip to the Humane Society last night, I learned something very interesting.  They have signs up, urging people to take the black animals.  Apparently, the blacks are not as popular. 

Why would that be?

FWIW, the wife and I adopted a tan-colored cat to match the ginger-colored dog, Ginger. 

Now, back to The Turner Diaries.   Where was I?

[wingnutx]

My cats is miscegenated!

[Art Eatman]

Hmmm.  I'll have to tell a friend of mine that she can now prove she's not racist.  She's tamed a feral cat that has not the first sign of any other color than coal black.  Absolute, dark of the moon, cloudy night black.  Haven't been able to train "Isis" to pick cotton, though...

, Art

[280plus]

That would infer that even the black folks are not taking black animals. What do you think THAT means? 

 

[Perd Hapley]

Uh, ok Art.  I wouldn't have gone there.  Jokes about basketball or chitlins, maybe, but not there.  

[El Tejon]

I would think that black animals would have an advantage--a tactical advantage--in adoptions among gun nuts.

[roo_ster]

I read some survey a while back, can't remember where.  The subjects were burglars doing time in prison.  They were asked what sorts of things deterred them from robbing a house.  The list compiled included dogs...black dogs were even more likely than other colored dogs to deter a crook.

Perhaps folks just fear black dogs & animals more than non-black critters? 

[Art Eatman]

fisful, I was trying figure as polite a stupid stereotype as I could.   There's something about the idea of an "unpopular" color that's off-putting, I guess, particularly the original notions that were given.

Not that it matters, but I've had a couple of black cats.  Both were named Fat Albert.  (That was sort of an "of course" thing, given the TV of back then.)  Neat critters.  The second one was great about stealing my ex-wife's pillow, leaving her with an aching neck in the morning.  What's not to like?

, Art

[mfree]

It means the vast majority of people who are adopting animals have light-colored carpet and furniture and are aware of how much dark dog hair just stands up and SHINES out where it collects.

I have dark green and maroon upholstry, and had a light tan/orange cat. Cat's been dead and gone for two months now, I keep vacuuming and using a tape strip, and you can still see where he lay and where he rubbed up against the furniture.

[Perd Hapley]

That's interesting, mfree.  But it only leaves us with another question:  Why are Americans racist about home furnishings? 

I vote for, "Because it looks better."  A couple of years ago, when I was in school full-time, I worked part-time at a large Baptist church.  Incidentally, it is believed to be the oldest Protestant church west of the Mississipi.  I spent a lot of my time painting the beige rooms with a fresh, clean coat of white paint (or two).  The light colors make everything look much fresher, cleaner and brighter.  I see the same thing at the apartments where I work now.  The walls have already been painted white, but the beige outlets, switches and wall plates suggest there was a darker color scheme at one time.  I think people are tending to move to lighter colors on the walls, and therefore in accessories, like pets. 

[StopTheGrays]

My friend will be happy to know he is not racist then
1 black inbred stupid chow.
1 brown doberman he rescued from the pound.
1 black rabbit.

I used to have a black scott/westie terrier once upon a time. I guess I am not racist either. coo.

[Hugh Damright]

This reminds me of something I read once about little black girls preferring to play with white dolls and some people thought that was just awful and that we need to restructure society to give little black girls more racial pride ... but later it was found that they liked pink dolls even better than white ones ... who knows, maybe someday we'll determine that little black girls prefer to play with dolls that are green with purple polkadots ... but I don't reckon that we need to restructure society over it.

[CAnnoneer]

Yes, let's force people to "like" what is politically correct and least interpretable as offensive by any selected ethnicity etc. Goodthink above all

Or, we should just let people make their own choices?

[Perd Hapley]

Uh, CAnnoneer, what are you talking about? 

[TarpleyG]

I have an interracial couple male and female dog...what's that make me?

[Perd Hapley]

A race-traitor?

A race-mixer?

Boy, I started a dumb thread.   

[wingnutx]

I have a black cat, but I'm not sure if it's goth or tactical.

[cordex]

Boy, I started a dumb thread.

Very observant.

My cat's fur looks a bit like arctic camouflage - black and white at the same time.

[Gun Runner]

I like my cows like I got my cat:

Mulatto



Incidentally my cat is half black, half white. 

Imagine, if you will, Kelly Holmes/Polecat = Jumpin' George



                      +



                      =




I would prefer tactical black.  Perhaps I will Krylon him after I shave him for the Winter.

[tyme]

I heard on the radio that SPCA chapters around the country were not allowing adoption of black cats right before Halloween, due to concern that they'd be abused or sacrificed.

[CAnnoneer]

Uh, CAnnoneer, what are you talking about? 

The reality is that people have preferences, period. They do not need to match whatever seems to be most palatable to the racially/socially/ethnically/whatever conscious-minded. Trying to influence people's preferences in any way is both oppressive and futile. Worrying about whether people like white puppies more than black puppies at the least defers to that mindset, if not sharing it.

I for one am disgusted with silly slogans like "Black is beautiful" because what underlies them is a mixture of insecurities, guilt, hypocrisy, and plain stupidity. People that say things like that deep inside dislike themselves, so they should figure out why that is, deal with it, and leave the rest of us the hell out of their struggles with their own daemons.

Example. Some time ago, I caught a glimpse of a fashion show on cable, where young beautiful women were trying to get their start into modeling careers and were criticized by established models etc. One of them, a black girl, made a verbal remark that the part of her appearance that she is shy about is her jaws protruding too much and making her "look like a monkey". The judges disagreed, but the other black or mixed contestants wanted to rip her apart with their bare hands because they took insult upon themselves from the remark.

You are who you are. You (dis)like what you (dis)like. Deal with it.

[Perd Hapley]

CAnnoneer, I think you're reading too much into this.  We're talking a lot about race here, but the signs at the shelter just requested that visitors consider one of the black cats/dogs/rabbits that they had.  I can only assume they have noticed that people do not choose the black animals and they were encouraging them to do so.  No racial implications were made.  No one demeaned me for getting a "caucasian" cat.  They just want somebody to adopt the black animals.  I don't think it's a bad thing.  I just found it interesting. 

[USP45usp]

I had a black cat named "spooky".  Actually was called a racist for that one  .

The shelter has the same rule here, no black cats a week before Halloween.

I don't care what color the pets I get are, I have never chosen a cat or dog anyway, they have always chosen me.

Wayne

[Lee]

Having worked at a gas station in an all black neighborhood in my younger days, I've heard nearly every charge of racism there is.  Example- "You a racist...you didn't put no dollars worth of premium iin my ride...I'm gonna go get my gun and shoot yo ass".  That was when premium gas was $1.65/gallon...and the guy was driving a Caddy Eldorado.  Another time, the owners dog chased a black couple who were riding bicycles.  The dog simply HATED moving bicylces, regardless of who was on them.  I was once again accused of racism, as was the POlice dog.  After about a thousand similar experiences, I'm pretty much deaf to racsim charges.  So please forgive my racist, yet true, stories if you are offended. . 

[Modifiedbrowning]

America is so racist, we don't even like black puppies.

No racial implications were made.

The shelter may have not made any racial implications but you did.